Potty Like a Rockstar!

We're singing praises over here because it finally looks like Mason is becoming potty trained. For the last week he's been peeing on the potty and staying dry for most of the day. Poop, it seems, is another issue, but I'm happy with baby steps for now.

I'm not sure what clicked in his little head, but one evening last week as Mason was getting in the bath, he saw Daddy go potty and he wanted to go too. So Dave got him out of the tub, put him on the potty, and off he went! He's been getting better and better every day. He even stayed dry at school yesterday! He's not quite to the point where he asks me to go yet, but he goes willingly most of the time when I ask him.

I still have him in Pull-ups and haven't quite braved going to underwear yet, but that will be the next step. I'm waiting to see how he does for a few more days.

After MONTHS of working on this off and on, I'm so happy to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. My hope is that we get this done by his 3rd birthday (April 6). I'm not sure if that's realistic or not, but that's my goal.

Four Months Old

Lauren had her four month check-up at the doctor's office this week. Dr. Smoak said she looks great and is above average on her developmental milestones. Here are the stats:

Length: 24 3/4in (60th percentile)

Weight: 15lbs, 13oz (90th percentile)

Head Circumference 41 1/4cm (60th percentile)

Another doctor visit means another immunization. We're doing a somewhat altered schedule so she got a DTaP shot this week. I've never liked getting shots myself (who does?) but I hate watching the kids get shots even more. She did pretty well though... only cried for about 30 seconds. She stopped as soon as she saw the nurse leave the room.

Here's Lauren giving Pooh a kiss, taken on her four month birthday:

A Message From Lauren...

A Hallmark Holiday

Valentine's Day is upon us. I know because yesterday I loaded up the kids for a quick trip to Super Target to buy those familiar little school-kid valentines for Mason's Valentine's Day party at school today. Mason wasn't really interested in the boxes of valentines, (he was more obsessed with a can candle on the next shelf) so being a frugal mom, I picked out the cheapest box I could find. Unfortunately, they don't make preschool class size boxes. I had to buy a box of 32 even though I only needed 9. I guess we'll be giving Disney Pixar movie valentines for the next couple of years.

This was the first time I've bought valentines since I was in grade school - 5th grade I think. I can remember making our big red envelopes out of construction paper, glue, and glitter which we taped to the edge of our desk to act as our valentine mail box. On party day, each of us passed out our little white envelopes containing the valentines we carefully and painstakingly selected for each person so as not to imply any sentiment that could be misconstrued causing much embarrassment. Of course the best valentines to give or receive were ones with candy attached. The ones I gave never had candy though - I guess my mom was a frugal mom too.

I have been known to give Dave a Valentines Day card a time or two during our dating years, but I seriously doubt he even remembers it. Neither one of us has ever made a big deal out of the holiday, and (I probably shouldn't admit this) that's okay with me. It's really just a Hallmark Holiday anyway, popularized by the greeting card, candy, and flower industry, right? How did we go from early Christian martyrs to celebrating love anyway? I'd much rather be surprised with candy and flowers on just a random day (hint, hint Dave).

Even so, I have nice memories of grade school Valentine's Day parties, so I will do my duty as a Mom and buy valentines (without candy) for my kids to pass out at their own schools from now on. I will even sit down and address them for my kids even if they are more interested in watching the Cars movie on TV instead. I want them to have their own fun memories of Valentine's Day parties like I do because I love them. And love it what it's all about.

Christmas in January

Last week we went on a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN to visit family for a delayed Christmas get-together. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews joined us in a cabin for 4 days. We had a great time just hanging out together as we very rarely are all together at once. One morning while we were there, we took Mason and Lauren on the gondola ride in Gatlinburg to the ski area at the top of the mountain. We had no intentions of skiing, but the ride was nice and Mason got to see some "snow" (machine made). We also went outlet shopping one afternoon, but the rest of the time, we hung out in our very nice 5-bedroom cabin. We had fun playing lots of games and the Wii my brother brought. And since it's hard to take 4 kids out to dinner, we made all of our meals in the kitchen.

Here's a pic of Mason and his cousins, Chandler and Kellon.

I Survived the Three Month Growth Spurt

Lauren turned three months old on January 13. A few days later, she hit her three-month growth spurt and turned into an eating machine. We're talking nursing about every 1-2 hours around the clock. I was getting up with her about 5 times a night. To make matters worse, it coincided with a really busy period for Dave with work. He's been working really long hours lately, so I wasn't able to count on him for much help. To make matters worse, I've cut back on coffee because it seems to affect Lauren's tummy, so I couldn't even count on that to get me through the day.

Thankfully though, my little glutton girl seems to have slowed down a bit. She's sleeping much longer stretches again, and I'm starting to get a little sanity back. Even though she's waking up at 5:00am (or even 4:00 lately) I'm still feeling a little better now that I'm only getting up with her once a night.

Since it's been a little while since I've posted any pictures, here are a few of my favorites from the last three weeks.

In this last picture, taken on the day Lauren turned three months old, she's wearing a dress made by her Great, Great Aunt Chris, and First Cousin (twice removed) Elaine. It was smoked by her Grandmama (my mom). They all did such a wonderful job, I wanted everyone to see how nice it looks.

A Few Random Updates

Some of the latest happenings in the Roszak household...

Lauren has recently taken to sucking her thumb. I'm rather surprised since I didn't encourage it, and I've never been able to get her to take a pacifier. It's cute for now, but I'm not looking forward to having to stop it later if this is something she keeps up.

The other day, Mason started calling me 'Mama' instead of 'Mommy' all of a sudden. I don't mind, but it's rather funny how these things change. He also started calling Dave by his name instead of 'Daddy' not long ago.

I think Lauren has hit her three-month growth spurt because she's been waking up several times a night to eat lately. She went to sleep at 9:30 last night but was up at 1:45, 4:00, 5:00, and up for good at 6:15. It's not helping that I've had to lay off coffee because it seems to make her cranky. Therefore, I'm a bit sleep deprived. Yesterday, I went to the bakery to buy some bread and left it sitting on the counter. It's been about six months since I've gotten a good nights sleep.

This morning while we were watching inauguration coverage, Mason "called" up Dave at work on his toy phone and said: "I'm watching Obama and playing with Mama's eyebrows. Love you. Bye bye." He was right on both counts.